Hope everyone's having happy handmade holidays - if not presents then food at least, yes? Now that the big day is over, I can finally share the bits and bobs that emerged over the past couple of weeks.

Some of my own personal gifts this year:


From left to right:

1) Earrings for my mum - when I saw these Swarovski crystal drops I immediately thought of her. Her favourite colour, you see.

2) Nesting necklace for my cousin Janice - who is expecting a little one in a few more months. She recently went on a shopping spree too :P

3) Long dark drapey necklace for WG - who laments having "few cool possessions" and not being able to carry off most things. Incidentally, this is the first piece of a new collection I have in the works... stay tuned.

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I was also tasked to come up with some pressies on specific budgets... LOL. Well, I thought I rose to the challenge reasonably well... :X

After endless discussion about size, colours and style, and the subsequent component hunting, these impossibly petite earrings emerged:


Also in the set is this necklace with complementary colours and floral theme:


Girly? A little out of my comfort zone, perhaps. But there was also this bracelet that I enjoyed working on, because from what I understood, the recipient likes the sort of colours and style to which I'm quite partial myself.


So autumny and woodlandy. Made with smokey quartz, warm-hued quartz rounds, a variety of Czech glass leaves and flowers and antiqued brass findings.

Meanwhile, presents for office colleagues were on another Santa's list:


On the left, bookmarks with various gemstone and glass charms. I don't know how many people still read physical books in this iPad age, but I know I do and am always scrabbling around for bookmarks that are not old receipts or paper napkins. It doesn't help that I usually happen to be concurrently in the middle of 289 books and magazines.

On the right, a small selection of bobby pin pairs that I also ended up adding to the Fiorissimo collection (which includes pairs and trios). I really love those resin flowers - everything about them is a delight from the soft, un-gaudy shades to the well-made, petal-perfect details.

And now it's back to work. Had to take a break the past 3 days but really gotta hit the ground running tomorrow.

Hello. Holiday shopping going all right so far? :)

I've noticed there have been some late stragglers, so although it is already impossible to have our international orders arrive before Christmas by the usual registered mail means, I've extended the cut-off date for Singapore packages to the 19th, which is this Sunday. I know the holidays snuck up on me this year too. I kept thinking there was still loads of time but the other day I saw someone's status update that there were only "10 days till Christmas" - 8 now, OMG - and that kind of kicked me back to reality. I guess I've not been feeling any festive spirit this year either. Dread going to any mall, dread even hopping on a train to go out. I've done some online and casual shopping for friends and the sister, but I prefer to get my parents stuff they need as opposed to extraneous or expensive things they're not likely to use. Finally got mum something yesterday, but the hunt continues as my Dad is a secret Spartan.

Now that I'm done with sorting out custom Christmas orders (I'm so dying to post pics but I think I'll wait till after the event in case any surprises are ruined), I've temporarily closed my online shop and embarked on a path of no return: a shop revamp with a completely different web platform and backend. I have grand dreams of an integrated experience but have nothing on paper to date (I like working straight off brain dumps, LOL) and wonder how long I can actually procrastinate on this. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile, all (or most) available jewellery pieces have been moved to my ArtFire studio, while the Etsy shop continues to um, yeah... exist. And as always, updates will be posted on this blog, Facebook and/or Twitter (yes, I usually do try not to be too repetitive or spammy).

Because I felt a little festive the other day... a combination of my love for reading and for paper goods, these are going to be given away with every purchase from any tellurus online outlet [shop, Etsy and Artfire]:


I made them from double-sided heavy paper and black satin ribbon. The Red set features white and embossed snowflakes on one side, and red-and-white stripes on the other. The Frosty set has really cute snowmen on grungy aqua, with a monotone kaleidoscopic pattern on the reverse.

Use as bookmarks or gift tags!

I have so gone off organza that I've been wrapping most of my recent packages with chocolate grosgrain. It's now time for classic black, I think, with midnight green satin. Actually it kind of matches my current banner and Artfire studio. Maybe I'll keep it going for a while...

Seeing that most of my customers are American, and given that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say a few things about what I'm thankful for:

• Family (of course) - who are still ever so understanding about me not having a Real Job, whilst letting me sponge off their kindness, generosity and food. Without them I would probably have been able to generate some electricity by now from continuously running in the giant hamster wheel.
  
• Repeat customers - you know who you are, you rawk and are totally appreciated. Without you, I think would have completely given up long ago. I'm sorry I haven't been very productive lately.
  
• My nerdy web & PM background which has proven quite useful in DIY design/e-biz/marketing situations.
• Yoga for keeping me sane. I am so guilty of not practising often enough.
  
• That I actually don't have to rush out to buy, stuff, baste and roast a turkey or any other fish or fowl, vegetarian or otherwise. Yay.
  

Things I am not thankful for (you knew this was coming, right?):

• That the USD continues to suck shit while I have an unprecedented amount festering in my Paypal balance that I could so spend on other things that would make me happy right this minute.
• That Etsy continues to repeatedly promote their own pet favourites and add features we don't need whilst conveniently ignoring the valid requests sellers have been making over the years.
  
• Copycats. All kinds, not necessarily those who only replicate designs. Shame on you.
  

It's Chinese New Year tomorrow... a celebration of spring. Whether or not the seasons are changing where you live, CNY is a nice way to start off the year since we're still only 25 days into 2009. Yes, I'm trying to think positive and will attempt to ignore the usual impertinent questions about motherhood. Some family/relatives will be back from travel or visiting from overseas, so it's probably appropriate to catch up, since we only do it basically once a year (and for those living abroad, once every 3 years?!).

I'll leave you with a new piece that I'd actually been planning for a couple of weeks, but only had the time to sit down and finish yesterday. It also took longer than expected; first I oxidised the chain, pins and handmade clasp, which involved mashing up boiled eggs and leaving everything in a box to stew. Then I cleaned the metal and sanded some of the black off to give it more depth. Then began the tedious process of wiring all the drops onto the chain (breaking quite a few pins along the way). It was therapeutic in a masochistic sense, but my fingertips ended up sore and I worked into the night, which I dislike because I do not have any affinity with wire/metal during the hours of darkness (artificial light is just not the same).


Fleur d'Oranger (orange blossoms) is composed of those lovely carnelian rondelles and petal-like keishi pearls set off against oxidised sterling silver chain. It's a long but delicate necklace at 36" so it can be worn single or doubled, even as a bracelet if you're so inclined. Keishi - Japanese for "poppyseed" - pearls are special because unlike regular pearls, they do not have a nucleus. This means they are totally made of nacre and are therefore more lustrous. Anyway... there will be only 2 pieces of this, currently in my jewellery boutique and soon to come on my Etsy shop.

I do love the scent of orange blossoms, by the way. Jo Malone's Orange Blossom cologne is one of my favourites (after Lime Basil Mandarin). And did you know that orange flower water is used in the baking of madeleines? If you've had the chance to sniff these dainty white blooms right off the tree, you'd be as amazed as me that such a powerful fragrance comes from such an innocent and nondescript flower. Like jasmine.... but that's another story :)

Just a little reminder - there will be no postal services on 26-27 Jan as these are public holidays in Singapore. My shops are still open of course, and any purchases made will be shipped from 28 Jan onwards.

Until a customer recently purchased this combination, it hadn't really occurred to me that the removable earring charms I had originally added for the Flint Hoops and other 28mm forged hoops also go well with the smaller Lisse Hoops. The different proportion of metal to charms affords the gems a brighter spotlight and, together with the hoops' brushed satin finish, transforms the look to a more sophisticated one. So I took some new photos today. The ones with pearls look rather festive, like shiny Christmas baubles.


Note: the pink coin pearls charms aren't actually available at my jewellery boutique as such, but if you're interested, I can set up a listing for you.

Happy holidays, everyone! Enjoy the rest of 2008 while it lasts!

I was possessed. It was close to midnight and I'd been already feeling sleepy for the 2 hours but something in me decided to start on some earrings. I haven't been working on earrings for about a week now but once you start with an idea it's hard to stop until you finish it, if only to see whether the end product turns out as you envisioned.

I've been wanting to do something with the Tunduru sapphire rondelles I got some time back (don't I say this with every bead purchase I make and cast aside in the pursuit of more?). These came in warmish hues of cranberry, mandarin, olive and taupe. I was about to pair them with smoky quartz when I discovered the citrine that I've been hoarding made a better complement. Pearls would top off the luxe look.

Named for the May festival of Beltane (here and here), which is celebrated approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. In ancient times, this traditionally marked the arrival of summer with lots of festivities. These fiery earrings are my celebration of new seasons, fresh growth, abundance, and most of all the life-giving sun and the full moon. I love pagan holidays; they have so much more meaning than modernised/commercialised ones.

The rise in number of items listed under the Jewelry category has been phenomenal. Well over 1,000 new "jewelry" items are listed every 2-3 days. I don't mind so much if it were all beautiful jewellery because I like to gawk anyway, but I'm seeing more and more mistagged items!

What business do beads, buttons, jewellery boxes, earrings stands have in placing their first/main tag as "jewelry"?? It's already annoying enough having to add "not supplies" to the end of my searches (not to mention looking through small, dark and blurry photos).

Is this the so-called festive crunch? I don't know, I was completely oblivious last year and I don't think there were quite as many sellers as there are now.

On a related note, I think it's about time I started looking out for Christmas presents. I can't possibly give people jewellery that I made yet again (if they wear it in the first place). What with possible postage delays and such, it's always better start early if I'm buying from overseas. And it's already November! *meep*

Update at 5.50PM:
OK, now I am looking through Journals and I have found gift tags, rubber stamps, vintage wallpaper and bookmarks when there are already Tags, Scrapbooking, Paper and Bookmarks categories on the same level, and vintage supplies is a whole different thing. BAAAAAAAAAAH.